Can't Beat the Devil
by stormbringer94
Summary: "See, he thinks I'm some kind of psycho killer. That I get women alone, attack them." He took a step closer. "So Lightman's wrong?" Ria whispered breathlessly. Martin chuckled. "Actually, he was dead on."
1. Chapter 1

_So I'm reposting all my chapters before I post the next chapter. I just wanted to correct some mistakes, and make a few minuscule changes. As always I don't own Lie To Me, or any of its components._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Ria slid the money over the counter, her phone pressed to her ear. The barista smiled and handed her the coffee. She tried to smile back, but Loker was ranting in her ear about aliens and government conspiracy.

"What exactly is happening?" She asked, trying to balance her coffee and purse. "No, Loker, I don't want to be on camera. What are you-"

Her argument with Loker was promptly cut off by the tall figure she'd just walked into and the hot coffee, now spilt all over her hand.

"Damn it! Ugh, gotta go." She growled, hanging up.

The figure, a young man, was immediately apologetic.

"Aww man, I am such a cluts. I – ugh Jesus - I left my opposable thumbs home. Here let me buy you another one." He said, reaching for some paper napkins.

"No, it's ok." Ria sighed.

"No, really, it's not." He insisted, turning back to the barista. "Here. Another one of what I just spilled and a, uh, raspberry tart. You ok with raspberry?" he asked, with a small smile.

Ria paused for a moment before smiling back.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

Ria sipped her new coffee as Martin walked with her through the parking lot. She was trying to explain her job to him. He seemed to think it was a lot more interesting than it really was.

"A lot of action huh?"

"Nah, usually just dull stuff. Little old ladies smuggling perfume, you know?"

He grinned, glancing at her.

"Well maybe dull is good. Whatever you're doing now seems to be stressing you out."

Just like with the raspberry tart, he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah, it's ironic. Uh, I'm usually the one to read people but you're right. I am stressed." She admitted as they reached his van

"Well, you need to relax." He said, tossing his bag into the back. "You know, I'm going to a concert tonight. Mostly Vivaldi. You want to come?"

Ria grinned and ducked her head, pretending to hesitate. She already knew her answer. Martin was cute, charming and could apparently hold his own against her lie detector job.

He smiled that quirky half smile of his. He almost seemed _bashful_.

"It doesn't have to be like a date or anything you know. You could meet me there."

She was sold. Smiling at him she shook herself out of her thoughts and nodded.

"No. Yeah, yeah I'd really like to go. Let me give you my number."

She balanced her coffee and purse on to roof of the car next to them and pulled out a pen. Scribbling her number on one of the napkins he had given her she looked back up at him.

He grinned openly at her and shut his van door.

"Great. So I'll call you later. Concert starts at 8, at The Fillmore."

"Yeah, I know the place. So I'll see you tonight."

"Can't wait." he chuckled, climbing into his van. He waved once more before driving off.

Ria smiled and walked on to her own car.


	2. Chapter 2

_So here's chapter two, with some minor edits. Bon Appetite!_

* * *

By the end of the day Torres was ready to strangle Loker. Usually their competitive bickering was fun and harmless. It was usually just part of their dynamic. Today however, he had been so smug about the whole "government conspiracy" thing that she was seriously considering putting his head through a wall.

Fortunately for Eli Loker, a pleasant distraction had quite possibly saved his life. A text, from Martin, had arrived, just as she was reaching for Eli's throat.

_Hey, it's Martin. I just realised you don't have my number. Well, now you do :) Just text me where to pick you up and I'll be there._

He must have forgotten that she was going to meet him at the concert. She was running late anyway because of Loker, so she texted him the Lightman office address and went to change in the bathroom.

* * *

"Oh my goodness, Ria you look _gorgeous_!" Heidi gushed as Torres emerged from the bathroom. She smiled self-consciously and smoothed down her deep maroon dress.

"Are you sure it's not too much? I mean, it's only a first date. In fact, I don't even know if it is a date!"

"Well, where is he taking you?"

"A Vivaldi concert, at the Fillmore."

"Wow, he's really pulling out all the stops."

Ria blushed and fidgeted with her dress again. Whilst Heidi may not have been a Lightman protégé, she had picked up a few tricks over the years and she could see Ria bouncing between excitement and nervousness.

"Look, Torres, you look fantastic. But, if you're still worried that you're overdressed for a first date, just remember that he's taking you to the Fillmore. That's a classy place, and you're perfectly dressed for _that_."

"Thanks Heidi. I'm just going to go leave my clothes in my office. He should be here any second though, so just buzz him in if he comes."

"No prob- oh, hi Eli. What can I do for you?"

Ria whirled on the spot to see Loker leaning against the wall. At a glance he seemed perfectly at ease, but his shoulders were tensed and his jaw clenched periodically.

"Big date?" he asked bitterly, eyeing the slinky strapless number she was wearing. Loker had never hidden his attraction towards her, but recently his attitude towards her dating life had shifted from playful ribbing to genuine resentment.

Unfortunately for Eli Loker, Ria had reached her limit a long time ago and was in no mood to coddle his fragile ego.

"Yeah, big date." She replied glibly, brushing past him.

* * *

When she returned from her office Martin had already arrived. He was wearing a black sports jacket and slacks, and looked _gorgeous_. Eli was still standing next to Heidi's desk, and the receptionist was eyeing the two men nervously. Her relief as she spotted Torres was palpable, and caught the attention of Martin, who turned and smiled widely at her appearance.

"Wow, you look... um... well, wow." He rubbed the back of his head bashfully and shot her another crooked smile, which she returned.

The moment was interrupted by Loker clearing his throat loudly. Ria scowled at him. He almost looked hurt in the neon light but, as always, whatever he was really feeling was quickly masked by a snarky grin, and without another word he turned back around the corner and disappeared into his office, leaving Ria and Martin alone with Heidi, who was pretending to type away diligently at the computer.

"Sorry about Loker. He can be a bit eccentric." Ria shrugged, trying to fill the awkward silence Loker had left in his wake.

"Not at all." Martin grinned, totally at ease, "It's nice being able to put a name to the glare."

This time Ria laughed openly.

"Will we go?"

* * *

Lightman was staring intently at Helen Dezekis as she made her twelfth circuit of the parking lot. Her obvious terror at being used as serial killer bait had faded as the night wore on. Lightman had been squashed into the back of his BMW for over three hours, with no sign of Martin Walker. As much as he wanted to catch Walker, even Cal Lightman had a limit as to how much he could take.

He watched as Helen passed under a streetlight, her shoulders slumped now. Pulling out his phone he dialled and watched her jump at the sound of her ringer.

"Cal?"

"What's wrong love?"

"What? Nothing's wrong."

He couldn't resist rolling his eyes.

"Really love? You're going to try lie?"

"No!" her tone was indignant but her posture was tired and defeated.

"You don't think he's gonna show, do you love?"

"Okay fine! If he didn't turn up when I left my office, _three hours ago¸ _why would he come now?"

Cal sighed in resignation. "Alright, let's wrap it up then. I'll give you lift a home."

* * *

The concert was good, or at least, the parts Ria had been listening to were. She and Martin had spent the most part of the evening laughing and talking. Their conversation had at some point turned into a guessing game where Martin would try to read the people around them with her acting as judge. It had started out fairly tamely, but by the time they had left the concert hall his theories had spiralled into blatant nonsense.

"That lady there has a fetish for dried fruit, and is fantasizing about her stash of caramelized banana slices in her purse!"

Ria almost spat her drink all over him as she tried to contain her laughter.

"Oh my God, no! Where are you getting this from?"

She could feel him shaking with laughter as well as he helped her into her coat.

"I will have you know that I am a deeply insightful person!" he replied archly, casually sweeping her hair out of the way.

"I find that hard to believe." She teased, pirouetting away from him. He followed quickly and caught her hand, swinging their arms gently between them as they strolled down the softly lit street.

"Hey, I resent that!" he exclaimed in mock indignation. "If I wasn't so insightful, then how could I tell that the conductor is a secret cross dresser off stage?"

"Ha! You're crazy!"

"And you're incredible."

And with that statement she stopped. They stood facing each other, poised on the edge of the dim lamplight, eyes shining in the dark. It seemed like a scene from a Nicholas Sparks movie; both of them waiting for the other to make a move.

Eventually, Martin did. He softly brushed a wayward strand of hair from her eyes and murmured in that low throaty voice of his.

"I mean it. You're the most fascinating woman I've ever met."

Chuckling self-consciously, Ria broke eye-contact and leaned back against his van behind her.

"Now you're just using lines, aren't you?" she half-joked.

"No, I mean it! You have an amazing gift, and I envy you."

"Liar!" she laughed.

"You should know. You _are_ the expert." He quipped playfully.

"Actually, I'm just a novice really. Lightman's the real expert." She hedged automatically. She glanced down at the sidewalk, feeling like a self-conscious teenager.

There was a long pause before Martin spoke again, and what he said was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Speaking of Lightman, did I mention I know your boss?"

"What?"

Martin was suddenly very close, but the warm, charismatic grin was gone. In its place was a calculating look. His mouth was still quirked in that crooked half-smile of his, only now his eyes were cast in shadow. The cold metal of the van pressed firmly against her back as she automatically stepped back.

"See, he thinks I'm some kind of psycho killer. That I get women alone, attack them." He took a step closer, his grey eyes boring into hers. Ria was suddenly very aware of how isolated they were.

"What do you want?". Another step.

"To make a point." The street was empty, and now he was looking at her like a piece of meat.

"And what point would that be?" she asked nervously, trying to edge herself out of the corner she'd backed into.

"That if Lightman was right about me you'd be dead." He murmured, blocking her path with a quick movement.

"So Lightman's wrong?" she whispered breathlessly, never taking her eyes off him as he loomed over her.

He chuckled softly. She jumped.

"No. Actually, he hit the nail on the head. Bad luck for you, huh?"

"Why?" she gasped.

"Oh, come on Ria, you're a smart woman. You know why." He had something in his hand. She shrank away from him as he reached toward her. She couldn't see what it was... He was blocking the light... What did he have..? It was too dark to see...

"I had a lovely evening Ria."

A flash... Pain... Black...


	3. Chapter 3

_First off, I would like to apologise for the obscene hiatus! What can I say? Life got in the way. I have learned something about myself though, through all this. I'm REALLY glad I'm not a professional writer. The pressure to overcome writer's block is huge! At least my paycheck doesn't depend on this!_

_Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

The next morning found Cal Lightman sat back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk. His usual smirk was absent; in its place was a frustrated scowl. His computer screen was lit up with Martin Walkers face. This was how Gillian Foster found him when she stopped by; shoulders hunched, glaring at the screen. Sighing, she knocked lightly on the door frame.

"Cal, can I come in?"

Lightman started at the sound and pulled his feet off the desk.

"What is it love?" He sounded tired, and as irritable as he had ever been when talking to Foster.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing." She said, taking slow calculated steps into the room. "I heard about last night."

Lightman's scowl deepened. He had watched Helen walk around the campus for hours last night, with no sign of his sociopath. He put the photo of Walker up on the projector and stared at it.

"I'm going to catch him."

Foster sighed again, this time out of vague exasperation. "Cal, Martin didn't show up. Are you sure it's him?"

"Foster, I'm positive. This is our guy." He stated, jabbing the photo on the screen for emphasis. Foster a lot of faith in Lightman's skills, but he was like a dog with a bone whether he was right or wrong. She wasn't going to win a debate so instead she dropped gracefully into the seat across from him and took the logical approach.

"Well then, where was he? Professor Dezekis was an ideal target, so why didn't he come?"

Lightman started pacing, every frantic stepped screaming of frustration. "He knew. Somehow he knew that we'd use Helen as bait."

Foster turned in her chair, following his movements. "Come on Cal, how could he possibly have known?"

Lightman stopped pacing, his expression begging her to listen to him. "He's a class A sociopath Foster, he can read people. Helen must have been telegraphing."

"Alright then," she said, gesturing pointedly to his vacated chair. "Hypothetically, how is he doing this?"

"That's what I'm going to figure out." He growled, circling his desk. He flopped back down into his chair. Just as his feet hit the desk once more Loker burst in.

"Have you seen Torres?"

"No, now get the hell out of my office!" Lightman snapped, his British accent thickening in his irritation.

"Cal, stop. What's wrong, Loker?" Gillian asked soothingly, shooting a sharp glare at Lightman who rolled his eyes.

"She's late, that's what! We have a consultation this morning with Mr. Hendricks today, and she was supposed to be here hours ago! Just because she had a fancy date, doesn't mean she can dump all her work on me! I have enough to be doing –"

"Shut up Loker!" Cal snapped, reaching for his office line. "Heidi, call Torres would ya? Tell her to get in here now or she's fired!"

"Cal..."

Lightman smirked at Foster's tone. "Oh come on love, you know I wouldn't."

"No. You know you can't. Not without my approval. Hiring and firing is something we do together."

"Yeah, but Torres doesn't know that." his smirk deepened, but Foster just rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"You're incorrigible!"

"Maybe, but you love me for it! Admit it!"

Gillian just gave him a look of fond exasperation before turning back to Loker, whose anger had faded into smug amusement at the scene in front of him.

"If it's just a consult I can sit in and help." She offered.

Before Loker could reply, to take her offer or decline it, there was a light knock on the door and Heidi stuck her head in.

Lightman spun his chair around before acknowledging her. "Yes love?"

"I called Torres sir, but she left her phone here last night."

"Well, call her house phone."

"I did, sir. Three times. She's not picking up. I also tried Agent Dupree."

"They broke up months ago." Loker jumped in, ignoring Lightman's raised eyebrow.

"I know, but considering..." Heidi hesitated. "Considering I can't find her anywhere, I didn't think it would hurt to try. I thought she may have gone to see him, you know, if her date had gone badly."

"Her date?"

Loker made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat. "Some guy picked her up here last night."

"And you didn't say anything?"

"Yes I did! It was practically the first thing I said to you."

"Well I wasn't listening." Lightman smirked, leaning back in his chair. "Look, Torres is a big girl. I think we all know where she is. Try her house phone again in an hour Heidi, and if she still isn't answering, Loker you go over to her place and drag her here. I don't care who she's in bed with."

* * *

Cal was just dozing off when the shrill sound of his mobile jolted him awake.

"Lightman."

Lightman scowled. He'd hoped it'd be Helen calling.

"Loker, why are you calling me?"

The irritation in his voice didn't seem to faze Loker one bit.

"Heidi couldn't reach Torres so I went to her place like you said. Foster gave me her spare key."

"Foster has a key to Torres's place?"

"Yes. Not important."

"Well, what is?" Cal spat, already bored of the to and fro.

"Her car is still here, and it looks like she didn't come home."

"Well –"

"No." Loker cut him off. "I know what you're about to say but Torres wouldn't go to this guys place and not come in this morning. Not without calling at least."

"Fine, come back here and we'll figure it out." Lightman sighed, rolling his eyes at his phone before hanging up on his melodramatic associate.

"Drama queen."

* * *

"Would you listen to me! There was something wrong with this guy!"

"So what, you think Torres's date kidnapped her?" Lightman chuckled, seeing the flash of anger in Loker's face. "Oh! You're jealous Loker!"

"Jesus Christ! You didn't see how he was behaving. When Ria wasn't there he was a total creep! He looked at me and he knew I wasn't going to let her leave with him, but he just kept smirking. Then, when she shows up he just flips the switch and is all charming and bashful? Even I would have bought it if he hadn't just creeped the hell out of me."

Gillian Foster, ever the voice of reason, looked at Loker's frantic expression and turned to Lightman.

"Cal, we still haven't heard from Torres. What harm could it do to just look into this? Either way, this date of hers may know where she is."

Lightman sighed, his calculating gaze flicking between the two.

"Alright love." he finally said, ignoring Loker's muttered "finally". "What's his name then Loker?"

"His name was Mark or something!" Loker said eagerly, "I can't be sure. But we were all caught on the lobby cameras."

"Alright. Have security bring me the footage from last night."

* * *

Lightman and Foster were muttering quietly to each other, but Eli ignored them, scanning rapidly through the footage in front of them. Finally the frames from the previous evening appeared, and Loker projected them up onto Lightman's projection screen. "Here!"

There was a series of images; the back of a man's head as he spoke to Heidi; Loker glaring at the stranger; Torres appearing behind Loker. One image stood out though, and Loker pulled it to the foreground.

It was an image of Ria Torres leaving the office with a tall young man, his hand resting on the small of her back. She was saying something to Heidi, and he; he was staring right at the camera.

Foster gasped and looked frantically to Lightman, whose jovial expression slipped to something much darker.

"What is it?" Loker demanded. "Do you know him?"

Foster nodded, her eyes wide and filled with horror. It was Lightman though, who spoke.

"Walker. His name is Martin Walker."


End file.
